There are a number of bicycle brakes of various designs on the market, most of which are either scissor type brakes (FIG. 1) or dual pivot (FIG. 2). There are advantages to both designs. The idea is to build in enough leverage to develop the necessary power to stop the bicycle while at the same time keeping the size and weight of the brake to a minimum. In each of these designs, the brakes draw two opposing pads onto each side of the rim of the bike wheel. The brake squeezes the rim of the wheel between the two pads using a cable, two arms which hold the pads, and a lever at the handle bar. The advantage of the scissor brake is that it can usually be made lighter than the dual pivot due to a reduced number of parts. However, the scissor brakes usually do not have as much power as the dual pivot style. The dual pivot design increases power by lengthening one of the arms through the use of a secondary pivot, which is off center of the normal pivot. These brakes are also cast or forged aluminum which does not bend much before breaking, therefore if the brake does fail, the failure is catastrophic and all function is lost. This fact forces manufacturers to build the brakes a bit bigger to avoid liability issues.
It would desirable to have a brake system that has the braking power necessary to safely slow or stop the vehicle or device while being lightweight and easy to manufacture.